Buttered Popcorn: Buzzmans Movie Review Thread Part II

[Palooza]

lame the twist is in the still image

[Palooza]

either way, get your damn hands off her. no surprise motherfucka

[Buzzman]

The Raid 2 (2014)



The first Raid was really fun. It was a film with the singular goal of showing a one man army kick and punches his way through an entire wave of criminals in a broken junkie apartment building. That’s all it wanted and needed to be. It is interesting then to learn that the Raid was never meant to exist. The Raid 2 was written and ready to be shot, but it was going to cost too much money so they just wrote a much simpler prequel to the film and shot it at a faction of the cost. I thought I was satisfied with that. Thank god it would go on to become a hit because The Raid 2 is unlike anything I have ever seen before and it was almost one of those films that ended up in the what ifs category.

The story begins mere hours after the events of the first film, with a bloody, beaten down Rama bringing the detained kingpin in for punishment. He retires but his past catches up to him and forces him back into action, once again going up against a kingpin. He goes to prison undercover and aims to join in the ranks of his enemy. This is a very work out storyline you’ve seen done many times, but it’s not a problem when executed as well as it is here. That’s the biggest difference between the films. This one has a deep plot that balances extremely well with all the fights it contains. Without it, it would have been too repetitive. The film contains a whole slew of characters that have real depth to them. It not only gives due time to every character, it gives them their own identities that differentiate them from one another. When this film ends, you remember the entire cast, unlike the first where only two stick out. One of the greater aspects of the film was its decision to reveal background about the character through the method in which they fight. It allowed you to see more than just punches but a rhythm and method to it. It does come at a cost though. The film does run a bit long, but it rarely wastes that runtime. Effort is put and seen into every scene.

As for the action itself, I’ve never seen anything better. Each set piece is massive on its own, but they constantly throw them at you. It’s quite impressive how different each scenario felt, but more impressively was the execution of them. The director does a ton of long scenes that let the fight play out that make them feel raw and authentic. The only time he decides to cut is for injury continuity that occurs throughout. Just imagine the first film injected with adrenaline and on a larger scale and you can paint a better picture of what to expect out of this sequel.

Like so many before it, it capitalizes upon the good things the original did and made a way to make it better. Too easily could this have been a mindless re-hash of the first one, but it decides to be something greater. It not only goes down as one of the greatest action film ever made, but it’s an overall great film. If you didn’t like the first, give this sequel another shot.

Grade: A-

[Buzzman]

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)



There was a time for myself when Captain America was without a doubt the weakest aspect of this universe Marvel has been building. It wasn’t to the fault of Chris Evans, who I enjoyed as Steve Rodgers from the start, but rather the supporting cast around him. They were putrid in the first Captain America and he had little time to talk in the Avengers while they bounced around from character to character. There was that hope with this sequel though because the time jump essentially allowed them to reboot the character while still building off things from that the first film. It improves in every way, but it’s all made entirely possible because of the work they went through all those years ago despite my poor thoughts about it.

The sequel definitely is the total package. Part of it feels like a Tom Clancy novel, other times a superhero version of Jason Bourne, and lastly feels like a mini Avengers film. That last one seems to be crucial to this films biggest success. Outside of Iron Man 2 (which was terribly executed), every solo film seems to have Easter eggs to some extent, but seem a hesitant to fully embrace the world Marvel is building. They tend to focus solely on the films hero and tease tiny things that just aren’t enough. The Winter Soldier throws that out the window and weaves so many characters (both old and new) into this perfect pattern and take advantage of what they’ve built for a change. This is Nick Furys, Black Widows, Flacons, The Winter Soldier story just as much as it is Captains. Don’t get me wrong, he is still the center of it all but I cannot find any dead weight around him. They all get the time and exploration in this film to feel like real characters in this world. It was exciting. The other side of that coin was the thriller it started as. Who could’ve predicted such a seamless transition from scaled back to massive and not have anything feel forced or questionable. The beginnings of the film, so beautifully shot by the Russo brothers, place Steve Rodgers in a world he cannot quite comprehend. Everything he has stood for seems forgotten and he doesn’t know the good from the bad anymore. It does a great job at creating tension when there really isn’t any. Quite clever. If it doesn’t satisfy you, I don’t know if Marvel films are what you should be watching.

Not only did they find the right form in storytelling, as I said before, they just did an absolutely incredible job with its characters. In every single one of these solo films, there is always dead weight. It either comes from bad acting or just poor character development, but The Winter Soldier has none of that. Each character is a piece of the puzzle and earns that moment when their number is called. Chris Evans has really grown into that role after 3 films and is my favorite one of all. It just brings every trait of the character to life and you cannot help but buy into it. Scarlett Johansson coming off a strong Avengers’, kickass once again, revealing a character with a much darker path then she’d like for you to know. She has a lot of fun with it. For the first time all series, Samuel Jackson gets to do something as Nick Fury and runs away with it. He proves why he’s at the top with intelligent moves ahead while holding his own in action. Falcon could’ve come about as cheesy, but Mackie nailed the blend of humor and chemistry with Steve, adding a sidekick of sorts that felt a lot more authentic than War Machine or Thor’s nameless group of allies. Even a usually throwaway character like Brock Rumlow and Maria Hill are fun and a part of the action. It reminds me so much of how well Joss Whedon nailed the Avengers. Then we get to the film’s title and Marvels only good villain not named Loki. The Winter Soldier gets a lot of help with the presentation of the character, but he is completely badass. He doesn’t say much or stop and throw things down, but rather comes out guns a blazing with a determination that he won’t be stopped. He should provide the universe with plenty of opportunities to turn him loose and be an amazing player in this world.

Captain America: The Winter Solider really raises the bar for Marvel films moving forward. It’s such a character driven story set in this massive world that never feels too big. It setup so many future opportunities while never forgetting to tell its own self contained story. Other films are going to need to take note of that. Iron Man 2 tried so desperately to be this kind of film but largely failed at it. With Guardians of the Galaxy up next and The Avengers 2 right behind it, Marvel is riding high, as they should be. The Winter Solider is the kind of films dream of and they executed it perfectly.

*Post credits scenes were great without spoiling them. Best ones we’ve gotten so far.

Grade: A-

[Buzzman]

Neighbors (2014)



Neighbors looks like a great comedy. It has the cast of a great comedy; it has the energy of a great comedy; even has big laughs like a great comedy. It should’ve added up to a huge blast of fun, but takes some bizarre turns throughout the movie that destroy any momentum it had going for it. It’s a real shame because it had some potential to have a lasting impact with a few changes in direction. Sometimes an R rating is a comedies biggest aspect, but other times like these, it’s just a bland excuse to swear and make dick jokes.

Things kick into gear right away as new Parents welcome a frat next door but after countless complaints, the two go to war to make their lives hell. The frat just wants to party and have a good time but the parents just want a good night’s sleep. There is plenty of room for laughs with a few directions to take but things just never quite click. Scenarios occur for the sake of the joke, other scenes extended too long without laughs, and a lot of the characters just go through the motions without much material to do anything. Considering this cast, it was disappointing so many characters just seemed to be background noise. There really was no good message here either. I know you don’t need one to be good, but it helps to have an occurring theme to keep the film on track, but the only thing I got here are just a bunch of college dicks and even worse parents.

Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne play the concerned parents. They are funny at times, but they play off this “acting cool” vibe that is too reoccurring. It might have worked once or twice, but they run this gag the entire time. It was repetitive and wasn’t trimmed enough. They also come off as just two awful parents, even if its played for laughs. They weren’t my problem though. I got enough laughs to overlook those flaws. The frat on the other hand was just very poorly written. They didn’t really have any really funny jokes, a lot of them were glorified cameos and the funniest one, Dave Franco, is underused. Most of the time is spent on Zac Efron, who does a great job with what he’s given, but they had no idea where to take the character. He was all over the place and ultimately came off too stylized. For such a great cast, they came away too dull.

Neighbors was one of my more anticipated films of the year, but those expectations had no effect on the quality of this film. It’s just mediocre at many of the things it tries to do. I have little doubt that it will make money and be praised because it has the look and feel of a fun movie, but it wasn’t to me. I came away thinking it was too long only to be blown away it was only ninety minutes long. That doesn’t bode well on its quality and pacing. Shame. Shame.

Grade: C

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

I love when comic films take on genres and just simply place the superheros in these genres and let them play out.

Examples...Batman Begins is a kung fu flick...The Dark Knight is a heist movie in the vein of Heat...

Captain America The Winter Soldier is a conspiracy film in the vein of Skyfall. Loved it.